Filed: Oct. 23, 2009
Latest Update: Mar. 28, 2017
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-5227 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. WINSTON DOUGLAS SYNDAB, a/k/a Winston Nelson, a/k/a Juvie, Defendant – Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, District Judge. (4:07-cr-00486-TLW-1) Submitted: October 20, 2009 Decided: October 23, 2009 Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Jud
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-5227 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. WINSTON DOUGLAS SYNDAB, a/k/a Winston Nelson, a/k/a Juvie, Defendant – Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, District Judge. (4:07-cr-00486-TLW-1) Submitted: October 20, 2009 Decided: October 23, 2009 Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judg..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-5227
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
WINSTON DOUGLAS SYNDAB, a/k/a Winston Nelson, a/k/a Juvie,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, District Judge.
(4:07-cr-00486-TLW-1)
Submitted: October 20, 2009 Decided: October 23, 2009
Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, and
HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Joshua S. Kendrick, JOSHUA SNOW KENDRICK, PC, Columbia, South
Carolina, for Appellant. Rose Mary Sheppard Parham, Assistant
United States Attorney, Florence, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Winston Douglas Syndab appeals from his conviction and
420-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea to
conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fifty grams or
more of crack cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance
of a drug trafficking offense. Syndab’s attorney filed a brief
pursuant to Anders v. California,
386 U.S. 738 (1967),
addressing the validity of the guilty plea and the
reasonableness of the sentence, but stating that there was no
merit to the appeal. Syndab filed a pro se brief challenging
the validity of his plea and asserting that counsel was
ineffective. Our review of the record discloses no reversible
error; accordingly, we affirm Syndab’s conviction and sentence.
We find that Syndab’s guilty plea was knowingly and
voluntarily entered after a thorough hearing pursuant to Fed. R.
Crim. P. 11. See United States v. DeFusco,
949 F.2d 114, 119-20
(4th Cir. 1991). Further, we find no abuse of discretion in the
district court’s denial of Syndab’s motion to withdraw his plea.
See United States v. Bowman,
348 F.3d 408, 413 (4th Cir. 2003);
United States v. Moore,
931 F.2d 245 (4th Cir. 1991).
The court reviews Syndab’s sentence for reasonableness
under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard. See Gall v.
United States,
128 S. Ct. 586, 591 (2007). In reviewing a
sentence, this court must first ensure that the district court
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committed no significant procedural error, such as incorrectly
calculating the guideline range. * United States v. Osborne,
514
F.3d 377, 387 (4th Cir.), cert. denied,
128 S. Ct. 2525 (2008).
The court then considers the substantive reasonableness of the
sentence imposed under the totality of the circumstances. Gall,
128 S. Ct. at 597. A sentence within the properly calculated
Guidelines range is presumed reasonable. Rita v. United States,
551 U.S. 338, 341 (2007). We find that the district court
properly considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2006) factors as
applied to Syndab, see United States v. Carter,
564 F.3d 325,
328 (4th Cir. 2009), analyzed the arguments presented by the
parties, and sufficiently explained the selected sentence.
Gall, 128 S. Ct. at 597.
In his pro se brief, Syndab contends his attorney
provided ineffective assistance. Because the record does not
conclusively demonstrate ineffective assistance, this claim
should be raised in a 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2009)
motion rather than on direct appeal. See United States v. King,
119 F.3d 290, 295 (4th Cir. 1997); United States v. DeFusco,
949
F.2d 114, 120-21 (4th Cir. 1991).
*
Syndab, in counsel’s brief, and in the pro se brief,
asserts that one of his prior convictions should not count as a
predicate offense for application of the career criminal
enhancement. However, we note that, even disregarding that
conviction, Syndab had two other qualifying convictions.
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As required by Anders, we have reviewed the entire
record and have found no meritorious issues for appeal. We
further find no merit to the claims raised by counsel and by
Syndab. We therefore affirm Syndab’s conviction and sentence.
This court requires that counsel inform his client, in writing,
of his right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States
for further review. If the client requests that a petition be
filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be
frivolous, then counsel may renew his motion for leave to
withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state that
a copy thereof was served on the client. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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